Spectacular Salesman

Marcia Gay Hayden to Address Breast Cancer Reasearch In Hartford

An Academy Award-winning actress, Marcia Gay Harden, will appear at the Legislative Office Building (Directions) on Tuesday to speak about new medicines in the battle against breast cancer. The press conference, sponsored by We Work for Health Connecticut, will highlight the importance of medical innovation in Connecticut for patients and the economy. Overall, Connecticut companies are currently working on 74 cutting-edge medicines in an ongoing attempt to cure the disease. We Work for Health of Connecticut brings together Connecticut leaders in research, medicine, public health, academia, education, and business to highlight factors that will support the survival and growth of medical innovation in Connecticut.

Besides winning the Academy Award, Harden has also been nominated for the Tony Award and the Emmy Award. She won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2000 for playing painter Lee Krasner in Pollock, and she was nominated in the same category in 2003 for Mystic River. Currently, she appears in the well-known Fx series "Damages,'' playing a corporate attorney on the screen with former Greenwich resident Glenn Close and famed actor William Hurt. Harden, an advocate for cancer patients, is also appearing in Broadway's "God of Carnage'' with Jeff Daniels, James Gandolfini, and Hope Davis.

Further information is available at www.WeWorkForHealth.org.

WSJ Reports on Governor Ed Rendell's Shady Dealing With Trial Lawyers

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal included a must read article exposing a potential inappropriate relationship between the Office of Governor Ed Rendell and the Houston based Law Firm of Bailey, Perrin and Bailey.

The State of Pennsylvania has filed suit against Jansen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson claiming the company improperly marketed their antipsychotic drug Risperdal for uses not approved by the FDA. Jansen denies the charges, but that's not the issue in the motion they've filed before the PA Supreme Court.

Jansen has challenged that the case is being prosecuted by Bailey, Perrin and Bailey (rather than the DA), who's founding partner, F. Kenneth Bailey made contributions to Gov. Rendell's 2006 re-relection campaign exceeding $90,000. Among them:

• Airplaine travel valued at $16,100
• $75,000 in direct contibutions
• (and) 25,000 to the Democratic Governor's Association (which contributed more than $1 million to Rendell)

The Journal has an interesting timeline demonstrating the the relationship between Bailey's contribution and the process by which his firm was awarded the no-bid contingency fee contract. The award gaurentees the firm 15% of any judegment award. Better yet, the agreement bars the state from settling the case "unless the settlement also provides reasonably for the compensation of [Bailey Perrin] by [Janssen] for the services provided by the law firm under this contract."

The Court is expected to rule on the motion shortly. The WSJ offers its own two cents:

..but whatever the outcome, the episode is another example of why more states should reform the process for retaining outside counsel.

State prosecutors are supposed to be motivated by a sense of public responsibility for the interests of justice. Law firms have other motivations, and no-bid contingency-fee deals encourage lawyers with a financial stake in a case to try meritless claims or ask for exorbitant awards. That serves neither taxpayers nor justice, though in this case it sure did help Mr. Rendell's re-election campaign.

Another American 1st , thanks to Obama

No American President has ever bowed to a monarch.

Until Now.

Heads of state do NOT bow to Kings.
One should show respect, but never act as an inferior.

Couple this with Obama’s ridiculous lack of respect for the British Prime Minister and it really makes you think.

Chris Healy discusses Dodd on Fox News

The Connecticut Republican Party Chairman appeared on Fox News
April 5th to discuss his disgust with Chris Dodd.

Republican Senate Candidate Field Grows

The Republican field of candidates running in 2010 continues to grow; here they can be seen holding a meeting at an undisclosed location.



Seriously though folks -
Between announced and "thinking about it, we're up to four.


Starting at upper left and going clockwise.
Former Ambassador Tom Foley, Rob Simmons, Jack Orchulli, Sam Caligiuri

Liberal press threatens to shut down liberal press

New York Times threatens to shut Boston Globe

The nearly Stalinist New York Times; usually a friend to both organized crime and trade unions (was that redundant?) now facing financial problems due to their total lack of journalistic integrity has decided to threaten the union workers working for their subsidiary paper, The Boston Globe unless those union members come up with 20,000,000 in wage concessions.

Possible concessions at the Globe, the 14th-largest U.S. daily paper by weekday circulation, include pay cuts, the end of pension contributions by the company and the elimination of lifetime job guarantees for some veteran staff, the paper said, quoting Boston Newspaper Guild president Daniel Totten.


Ya, the stooges at the Times will do our bidding well after our deaths.